Groupon Loses to LivingSocial in Super Bowl Commercial Contest (Video Link)

When it comes to Super Bowl commercials, most viewers do not expect "Masterpiece Theater" sophistication. Animals and talking babies hawk everything from cars to investments, and soda cans hurled at people's body parts are de rigueur. Still, the Groupon commercials (video links here) aired during today's Super Bowl game were low art even by Super Bowl standards. Compared to competitor LivingSocial, Groupon came off as a socially callous company that celebrates the most vulgar form of American greed.

In a series of three ads narrated by stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Elizabeth Hurley and Timothy Hutton, the Groupon commercials started off as quasi-documentaries, with the celebrity narrator lamenting the loss of whales, rain forests and Tibet's freedom, respectively. In a gotcha twist, each commercial suddenly shifts into a big huzzah for Groupon, with Gooding, Hurley and Hutton virtually cackling over how much money one can save by using Groupon to buy discounted merchandise and services from the social media buying group.

In Cuba Gooding Jr.'s "Save the Whales" commercial, for instance, Gooding says soberly, "Whales, the most spectacular creature on the planet. Hi, I'm Cuba Gooding Jr. Today their numbers are dwindling. Somebody's gotta save 'em. (Shifts to a quicker, happier tone) But it's more fun watching them jumping . . . playing. And since 100 of us bought a Groupon.com, we're each getting an $86 whale watching cruise for just $49."

As if this weren't "funny" enough the first time, Groupon plays this clever trick two more times. In the Groupon rain forest commercial, Elizabeth Hurley sheds false tears for the demise of the Brazilian rain forests before waxing ecstatic about a great deal on Brazilian waxes at a tony New York City spa. And the usually uber serious Timothy Hutton pretends to care about the plight of Tibet before tossing off his concern with the happy news that he and his buds got a good deal on Tibetan curry at a Chicago restaurant, thanks to Groupon.

LivingSocial, meanwhile, the underdog in the two-player social media buying club space, used far better judgment in capturing the spirit of the "such a deal" concept by showing a flannel-shirted man whose life is radicalized by LivingSocial bargains. From go karting to eating cupcakes to turning himself into a yoga pretzel, he becomes an adventurous man-about-town until, in the final scene, he is surrealistically shown as a frilly cross dresser sipping a fruity cocktail.

One does not have to lack a sense of humor to find Groupon's ads not only not funny, but in bad taste. What's next? Making fun of rape victims? Children who have been abused? Dogs who are killed at the pound? It is one thing to celebrate the idea of getting a good deal, but not when it is juxtaposed with the suffering of others. Instead of feasting on cupcakes as the LivingSocial guy does, the Groupon celebrities' attitude is "Let them eat cake." Who cares about the plight of others so long as you are getting yours.

Unlike the delicious looking cupcakes in the LivingSocial commercial, I suspect the Groupon commercials left a bad taste in the mouth of most Super Bowl viewers.

Source:
Scott Austin, "Who Won the Super Bowl -- Groupon or LivingSocial" WSJ Online